Zephaniah 1
1
1 #
2 K 22.1—23.30; 2 Ch 34.1—35.27. I am Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the grandson of Gedaliah, the great-grandson of Amariah, and the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah.#1.1 Hezekiah: Ruled 716–687 b.c.
When Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah,#1.1 Josiah … king of Judah: Ruled 640–609 b.c. the Lord gave me this message.
Judgment on Judah
2I, the Lord, now promise
to destroy everything
on this earth—
3people and animals,
birds and fish.
Everyone who is evil
will crash to the ground,#1.3 Everyone … ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and I will wipe out
the entire human race.
4I will reach out to punish
Judah and Jerusalem—
nothing will remain
of the god Baal;#1.4 Baal: A Canaanite fertility god.
nothing will be remembered
of his pagan priests.
5Not a trace will be found
of those who worship stars
from their rooftops,
or bow down to the god Milcom,#1.5 Milcom: An Ammonite fertility god.
while claiming loyalty
to me, the Lord.
6Nothing will remain of anyone
who has turned away
and rejected me.
7Be silent! I am the Lord God,
and the time is near.
I am preparing
to sacrifice my people
and to invite my guests.
8On that day I will punish
national leaders
and sons of the king,
along with all who follow
foreign customs.#1.8 follow foreign customs: Hebrew “wear foreign clothes.”
9I will punish worshipers
of pagan gods#1.9 worshipers … gods: The Hebrew text has “all who jump over the threshold,” which was a Philistine religious practice (see 1 Samuel 5.5).
and cruel palace officials
who abuse their power.
10I, the Lord, promise
that on that day
noisy crying will be heard
from Fish Gate, New Town,
and Upper Hills.
11Everyone in Lower Hollow#1.10,11 Fish Gate, New Town, and Upper Hills … Lower Hollow: Names for different sections of Jerusalem: Fish Gate was probably the main gate on the north side of the city; New Town was a newer section; Upper Hills may have been a suburb north of the city; Lower Hollow was probably on the southern edge of town.
will mourn loudly,
because merchants
and money changers
will be wiped out.
12I'll search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those people
who sit there unworried
while thinking,
“The Lord won't do anything,
good or bad.”
13Their possessions will be taken,
their homes left in ruins.
They won't get to live
in the houses they build,
or drink wine from the grapes
in their own vineyards.
A Terrible Day
14The great day of the Lord
is coming soon, very soon.
On that terrible day,
fearsome shouts of warriors
will be heard everywhere.
15It will be a time of anger—
of trouble and torment,
of disaster and destruction,
of darkness and despair,
of storm clouds and shadows,
16of trumpet calls
and battle cries
against fortified cities
and mighty fortresses.
17The Lord warns everyone
who has sinned against him,
“I'll strike you blind!
Then your blood and your insides
will gush out like vomit.
18Not even your silver or gold
can save you on that day
when I, the Lord, am angry.
My anger will flare up
like a furious fire
scorching the earth
and everyone on it.”
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Zephaniah 1: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Zephaniah 1
1
Judah’s Impending Judgment
1The word of Yahweh that came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
2“I will surely destroy everything
from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.
3“I will destroy humanity and beast;
I will destroy the birds of the sky
and the fish of the sea,
and the stumbling blocks#A reference to idols with the wicked.
And I will cut off humankind
from the face of the earth”—a declaration of Yahweh.
4“And I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will cut off from this place
the remnant of Baal,
and the name of idolatrous priests with the priests,#The last phrase, “with the priests,” may be a later explanatory gloss
5and those who bow down on the rooftops
to the host of heaven,
and those who bow down, swearing to Yahweh
but also swearing by Milkom,#Or “their king”
6and those who turned back from following#Literally “after” Yahweh,
and who did not seek Yahweh,
and did not inquire of him.”
7Be silent before the Lord Yahweh,
for the day of Yahweh draws near,
for Yahweh has provided a sacrifice
and has consecrated his guests.
8And it shall be that on the day of the sacrifice of Yahweh,
I will punish the officials
and the sons of the king
and those who dress in foreign clothing.
9And on that day I will punish
all who leap over the threshold,
who fill up the house of their master
with violence and deceit.
10“And there shall be on that day”—a declaration of Yahweh—
“a loud outcry#Literally “voice of a cry of distress” from the Fish Gate,
and a wailing from the Second District,
and a loud#Or “great” crashing from the hills.
11The inhabitants of the Mortar shall wail,
for all the traders have perished;
all who trade with silver have been cut off.
12And it shall be that at that time
I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
whose senses are dulled from drinking,#Literally “who are thickened with their dregs”
who say in their hearts,
‘Yahweh will not do good, nor will he do evil.’
13Then their wealth shall be as plunder,
and their homes as desolation.
And they shall build their houses and not inhabit them,
and they shall plant vineyards and not drink their wine.”
14The great day of Yahweh draws near;
it is near and coming very swiftly.
The sound of the day of Yahweh is bitterness;
there, a warrior cries out!
15That day will be a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress,
a day of disaster and ruination,
a day of darkness and deep gloom,
a day of clouds#Hebrew “cloud” and thick clouds,#Hebrew “cloud”
16a day of trumpet and trumpet blast
against the fortified cities
and against the high corner towers.
17And I will bring distress to all humankind,
and they shall walk about like the blind,
for they sinned against Yahweh;
their blood shall be poured out like dust
and their entrails like dung.
18Moreover, their silver and their gold
will not be able to save them
on the day of the wrath of Yahweh.
And in the fire of his zeal,
the whole land shall be consumed,
for a terrifying end he shall make
for all the inhabitants of the land.
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